UK house price growth unexpectedly slows to 7-month low - Nationwide

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - Annual house price growth in Britain cooled to a seven-month low in March, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Thursday, adding to signs of fading momentum in the housing market.

House prices rose 2.1 percent in the year to March compared with 2.2 percent in February, weaker than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that had pointed to growth of 2.6 percent.

Prices fell on the month by 0.2 percent, following a 0.4 percent drop in February - again undercutting all forecasts in the Reuters poll that had pointed to growth of 0.2 percent.

Nationwide said it expected house prices would be broadly flat over 2018, with a marginal gain of around 1 percent over the year as a whole. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Susan Fenton)